Lovestruck || an nctxreader story

(1) Surprise Surprise

The day starts like any other, I trudge out of bed not wanting to go to work. Surely the café could be fine without me,  I'm just a barista with no will to live. But I kept getting ready, showering and fixing my hair into a tight ponytail on top of my head. Makeup is supposed to be kept light and simple, nothing crazy, nothing bright, nothing special.
  I'm Park (Y/N), and honestly, if it wasn't for my extreme sense of restlessness most of the time, I wouldn't even need to worry about a job. It's not like the money I make even goes towards putting the roof over my head. My best friends do that for me, they pay for it, because they've got more money than they know what to do with. Besides, Johnny has always taken care of me. And now, it's just a little easier for him. 
  I walk to the café with one earbud in listening to the playlist Chenle made for me, the other out to pay attention to my surroundings. As soon as I see the little shop come into view I unplug and put my phone on silent. Mentally preparing for the day ahead of me.
   "Park Y/N!" I hear a bright voice yell, oh great the managers in, wasn't expecting that.
  "Hello Ms, Kim!" I chirp back, eager for the exchange to be over.
  She smiles, "Okay Y/N, today I received a call from your boys, they asked me to let you out of work early. Apparently you have something to attend with them?"
  I pause, what are they planning, "They must have made plans without letting me know, typical of them."
  "Well, your shift can end today at 1, so you can prepare yourself for whatever event they have planned."
  I feel my jaw drop, "Are you sure, Ms. Kim? It won't be any trouble for you?"
  "Of course not, dear," she laughs, something was a little off with her today, "Now get to work before I reconsider."
  Ah, there she is, that's the Ms. Kim I know. I did as instructed and wait in the front for the cashier to send orders through until 1 when I cleaned up my station and clocked out. It had been a normal day, not many complicated orders. Maybe a couple familiar names came through with the orders but I'd never know, I never see the faces.
   "Ah, Y/N, why do you walk so fast," I hear a familiar voice yell to me.
   Turning on my heel, I yell back, "I don't know Johnny, why are you so slow."
   He smiles, "I see Ms. Kim let you out early, I'm glad. You should come with me."
  "Johnny, why'd you even have to call the café? Why couldn't the plans wait until AFTER I got out," I pout, "And you didn't even tell me what's happening!"
   He runs a hand through his hair, "I didn't tell you because it's a surprise. You'll see when we get there, I had to keep the other boys phones just so they wouldn't tell you. It's Taeyong and I's surprise for you."
  "Taeyong?" I ask a little breathily. Johnny knew about my thing for Taeyong, he's known.
  "Yeah, Taeyong and I set it all up. It'll be fun, a night you won't forget," he says flashing that same brilliant smile. He scans my face with bright eyes, "C'mon, let's get lunch, my treat."
  I huff, "You always pay, let me pay today."
  "Not today sweetheart, today, everything is about you."
  I roll my eyes, "Fine, whatever you say."
  He grabs my hand, "Street food okay with you?"
  "Yeah, whatever. I'm not even super hungry."
  "Liar, I know you're probably starving. Just sit, I'll order for us."
  I find a table not too far from the stand and wait for Johnny to come back. A soft thud against the table stirs me from my thoughts.
  Johnny laughs, "Scared?" What a prick, he's lucky I love him. "Alright so I got us all the basics. We've got white rice, fried rice, veggies, chicken, and beef. And I got us a couple waters."
  "Wow Johnny, forget my undying love for Taeyong, I might be in love with you."
   He chokes on his water, "Good God, I hope not."
Huh.
"So, for tonight we're just gonna have to get you cleaned up and out of your work uniform. Maybe you could wear a dress or something. It's a semi-formal type deal."
  I stare up at him, "A dress? Johnny what are you planning you mischievous little rascal."
  Smoothly making eye contact, "I'm making all your little dreams come true."
Oh God.
  "Super helpful, thank you so much for enlightening me," I glare, attempting to look intimidating, I probably look like some kind of pissed off chihuahua.
  He's laughing, he's actually laughing, at me. Goddamnit. I wanted to be scary.
  "Okay okay, now why don't we go shopping, pick up something, new for you?"
  I roll my eyes again, "Like where are we heading? I'm living on a department store budget so nowhere crazy, okay Johnny?"
  He lets out a breathy chuckle, "Sure, sure, got it." He drags me through the crowded streets to stores whose names I've stopped trying to pronounce. Stopping at one, he scans the store through the big glass window.
"This looks like your kind of place," he smiles, all of his features just luminous with joy.
  "Okay, whatever. Just promise you'll be nice to me."
  "You've got a deal. I'll give you some advice, if you need it."
  Damn maybe he's trying not to act like my snarky best friend as usual, normally he'd say "when" not "if", this is weird.
  Immediately walking through the store my eyes gravitate towards the racks of deep blues and greens. I tug Johnny's arm towards the dresses. He comes up behind me skimming the racks with expertise, and pulls a few off the rack.
  "Here, go ask for a fitting room and try those on for me," he says, just a hint of gentleness in his voice.
  I track down an attendant and she led me to  the back wall of fitting rooms. Carefully she unlocks the door and opens it for me. I thank her quickly before pulling the door shut behind me, god this was gonna be a mess. I threw my work uniform to the floor and held up the first dress Johnny pulled from the rack. It's beautiful, a deep blue silk bodice with a chiffon skirt in a matching shade of blue. It had silver accents lining the hem of the skirt. It was perfect, at least on the hanger. I shrug out of it carefully placing it back on the hanger.
  The second dress was, wow, just wow. It was simple but beautiful. It had off the shoulder sleeves and a skater style skirt in a plain green silk. I love it. It fits like a dream and looks good on me. I text Johnny to meet me by the fitting rooms to show him.
  "No Taeyong, I haven't told her what the plan was. I'm not stu- Oh my wow, Y/N you look stunning. I'll call you back TY."
  I flush at his words, "What was that about?"
  "Nothing of your concern," he says with a sigh. "Is that your dress or would you like me to keep looking?"
  I was grinning like the Cheshire Cat, "Oh this is my dress for sure, it's perfect for me."
  Johnny gives me a quick once over, "Do you still have those heels you wore last time?"
  "Johnny why in the hell would I not have those," I say a little harshly, how dare he think I'd lose those heels.
  "They'd look perfect with that dress," he says confidently, scanning my body once again.
  I twirl on my heels and closed the door, quickly to hide my bright red cheeks. I slid the dress down my body and caught it before it could pool on the floor.
"Hurry up, I'm bored," calls Johnny from the other side of the door. That's my best friend, my absolute best friend. I slip back into my old clothes and shove my feet in my shoes, stomping my feet a little bit.
I step out with my dress in my arms, "Alright, I just gotta pay for this, wanna try and hail a cab?"
Johnny looks up from his phone, "I thought I told you already, today is about you, you're not paying for anything."
"Well damn, I didn't think you were serious," I whisper.
He pulls his wallet from his back pocket, "Just wait for me, okay?"
I roll my eyes, "Fine, whatever."
"You guys are such a cute couple!" exclaims the cashier, "I wish I had a boyfriend like you." She cheers dropping a wink in my direction.
Seemingly thinking the same thing Johnny and I say, "Oh we're not together."
"Such a shame, you would be such a good match," the cashier half pouts. "Alright now have a great day, guys!"
Johnny was busy on his phone again, "Alright Mark, is everything in place? Or almost? It's gonna be another couple hours until she's ready but, we wanna be safe here." A pause, chewing on his lip, "Okay, hows TY feeling?"
I hear barely audible screams over the line, "That's perfect, I'll see you soon."
"Johnny are you going to tell me what's going on at all?"
"Nope."
I roll my eyes, "Can you at least hail a cab?"
He smiles, "Of course." Wow. How charming.
In the cab he did nothing but text, not paying attention at all to me, so I did my best to not pay attention to him. I tried not to notice how he kept chewing his bottom lip or scratch his ear, all signs he's nervous. I brush it off, maybe he just wants his plans to go well.
"Hey, Y/N? We gotta have you ready to go by 6, okay?"
"That gives me like three hours to get ready, that's perfect," I smile, which I can see lessens the frequency of his nervous ticks. I think sometimes he forgets we grew up together, and that I know him better than anyone ever will.
The cab stopping pulls me out of my haze and I pull out the fare money quickly before Johnny can notice. We step out of the cab and out into the chilly spring air.
"Race to your apartment?"
"You're so on Seo."
And like that we're sprinting towards my complex, it reminds me of the good old days.
He wins, but that's because he's got those long legs, so not fair.
"Go on, go up, go get ready. I'll probably just watch a movie until you're done," he says, typical of him.
I set everything out to get ready, my curling iron, hair spray, and a pack of bobby pins. Setting the iron to high, I start sectioning my hair off. I curl the thick, dark locks as fast as I can. After it's all curled I pull the sides back in thick, loose braids and pin the braids in the back of my head, hiding the pins with more curls. Perfect. I look perfect. I then start working on adding to my makeup, adding a little sparkle to my eyeshadow and some highlighter to my cheekbones and Cupid's bow. I paint my lips a soft shade of pink and smile at my reflection. I run to my room to get the dress on and search for my shoes.
I find the shoes at the back of my closet and slip them on pulling up the zipper on the side before walking out into the living room.
"Wow, look at my bestie go," exclaims a bewildered Johnny, "Now let's head out before Taeyong thinks we forgot about him."